by Alexia Adams
“Amore, it is enough. The memories are making you too upset.” He was shaking now as well, and moved them both to the sofa to sit down. His arm tightened around her as if he could protect her from the pain of her former life.
“No, I have to finish. I want you to know it all, to know all my horrible past. Then if you want to end the marriage, I will go quietly back to England. It’s probably too late to get an annulment. I should have told you before we married that my brother was a murderer.”
“I want to know only so I can understand you better. Your family, your history, makes no difference to me.” At least now he understood her desire to leave England and never look back.
Sophia’s tears ran down her cheeks and fell onto her clenched fist. She stared at the wetness on her hand, as if unsure of where it came from. “It took eighty stitches to close up the wounds and I couldn’t sit for a long time. You’ve seen the scars. In the hospital I met Olivia. I won’t tell you her story; that’s her business. Needless to say, she’d been through worse. She was a little younger than me, she’d only just turned fifteen.
“We decided to run away. We lived on the streets for a few months, sleeping in turns so one of us could keep an eye out for danger. There was no time to look back, no time for dreams and what ifs. Our only thoughts were for survival. We stole food—fruit from the market and stuff like that.”
“What about your parents? Surely they must have looked for you?” He was shocked. Never had he thought his quiet, serene wife fought for survival on the street.
“My parents made an effort to find me. But I sent them a letter saying I needed a new start. Dad was looking after Sarah and James now, so they didn’t need me. I couldn’t go back. I didn’t want to be the parent and end up like Ben or Paul. I was selfish. I just wanted to be responsible for me. Those girls in school had killed the old Sophia, as much as my brother had killed that boy.”
“What about Olivia’s family? Couldn’t you have gone to them?”
“Olivia’s mother never even reported her missing. I was all Olivia had, and sometimes that is what kept me going—knowing that without me she would be all alone. Olivia and I were inseparable, since the day we met in the hospital we’ve been each other’s family.”
“Dio mio.”
“Finally, after one too-close call, we sought refuge at a youth shelter. They took us in without questions, offered us counseling. They helped us finish our education and get jobs. I don’t even want to think what would have become of us if we hadn’t gone there. After I got work and a place to live, I tried to help out by volunteering when I had any free time.”
“What about Sarah and James?” He was still finding it hard to believe his wife’s resilience, although he should have known from the way she’d adapted so quickly to life in a foreign country. She said she’d been afraid to lose control, and now he knew why. Because there had been no one to protect her in the past. His arms tightened around her.
“I checked in on them, mostly from a distance for the first couple of years. I didn’t want to go home and give my dad an excuse to exit out of their lives again. Sarah has a lot of issues. She’d sleep with any boy who showed interest in her and was pregnant by the time she was sixteen. Her second baby was born when she was eighteen. Men are in and out of her life, most of them losers. She just had her third baby and that father has already left.
“James finished school last year. He’s doing okay. I want him to have a trade, something that would ensure he could always get work. So I’m helping him pay for college. He’s going to be an electrician and still lives at home. Mum is pretty sick at the moment, so he does most of the cooking and cleaning.
“I have great hopes for James. Although I still picture him as the curly haired, blue eyed cherub and have trouble seeing him as the six-foot man he is today. I keep in touch with him. I’m hoping maybe he can come out here for a couple of weeks, if Mum’s well enough. Once I break the news to him of our marriage, that is.”
“When do you think that will be?” He’d been curious why she hadn’t told her family about their marriage. Now he understood all too well. And it wasn’t good news for their relationship. She’d been independent and strong for so long that getting her to let him in would take time.
“Probably sooner rather than later. James is finishing up his courses right now and about to start his apprenticeship. But I know he wants to have a little break before he starts work full-time. I thought I’d tell him when he got his results, and then invite him to come over, if that’s okay with you.”
“Absolutely. I would love to meet him, and any others in your family you want to invite. Maybe Sarah and her children could use a holiday.” He said this genuinely. Although Sophia didn’t currently want to spend much time with her family, other than James, that might change as their own children arrived.
“Maybe. I’m not sure if your quiet little household here is ready for Sarah and her brood.” Sophia let out a deep breath, her shoulders higher as if the secret of her family had weighed heavily on her.
“Amore, you are amazing. Thank you for trusting me with your story.”
Now he knew why she’d married him. But it wasn’t enough. He needed her to need him. To want to be with him for more than his money. He had to figure out how he could get her to rebuild her life around him and not grant him access only on occasion. He wanted her to stop pretending and be real.
Because one thing had become clear over the past month. Their marriage was becoming more than a business arrangement to him. The little voice in his head chimed in with a chorus of “I told you so.” Yet it offered no advice on how he could make an independent woman need him.
Maybe it was time for another plan.
Chapter 12
“Sophia, is there something you want to tell me?”
She closed the book she’d been reading and put it down on the table next to the chaise, trying to buy some time before answering. She’d been so careful over the last couple of weeks not to show how much she was coming to care for her husband, or how much she wanted him to need her in return. Could he have guessed? Sometimes she surprised herself at her acting ability. She must have inherited it from her mother.
She searched Luca’s face, trying to discern the reason for his question. His eyes were impassive, not showing the warmth or desire she was used to seeing in them recently. He held a paper in his hand.
“Can you give me a hint?”
His face was remote, as if he was trying to distance himself from some unwanted emotion. “This is the statement for your credit card,” he offered, between clenched teeth.
She tried to remember any outrageous purchases but failed. The bills for the clothes she’d bought with Isabella had come through a month ago without the merest hint of a question from Luca. Aside from the reupholstered sofa for the sitting room, which Luca claimed to love, she hadn’t bought anything major for the house either. She hoped one day she and Luca could shop together for a new dining set. Something they chose together, a symbol of their unity. Not what they currently were—two disparate people who had amazing sex.
“Have I spent too much?”
Luca’s face was still blank, although a muscle throbbed in his jaw.
“There is a charge on here for a business license.”
“Oh right, I forgot about that. I didn’t have any cash the day I applied, so had to put the charge on the card. Don’t worry, once I get the finances sorted, I’ll put the expense through my new company.” The business license had only cost 100 euro. She still didn’t understand why Luca was upset.
“Do you not think you could have talked to me about starting a business?” His accent became more pronounced.
“You’ve been so preoccupied lately, I didn’t want to bother you with something so trivial. And I told you I was bored sitting at home. I finished my interior design course and got my certificate. And Jonathan was really happy with the work I did for him and gave me an amazing reference. So I put an adver
tisement in the local British ex-pat newspaper and quite a few people have contacted me. I thought getting a business license was the proper thing to do. It seems a lot of work is done here under the table, but I didn’t want to get involved in anything shady. I know how important your reputation is to you.” The frostiness in her tone surprised even her. He’d made it abundantly clear that his reputation was more important than her happiness.
“I assumed you would abide by our arrangement.” The chill in his voice matched hers.
She leapt to her feet, anger incinerating her normal passivity to white-hot fury in an instant. How dare Luca accuse her of breaking their agreement? Despite all their recent intimacy, did he still regard their marriage as a business deal?
“When I agreed to this marriage, I clearly recall you saying that I could continue my education, even get a degree.” The sound of her heart breaking temporarily drowned out the thudding of her pulse in her ears.
“An education, yes. Starting a business is different. If my wife is having to take work, the gossip will be that my company is failing. A rumor like that can do serious damage to my reputation.”
“Maybe you should worry more about me, and less about rumors,” she shot back.
“I do care about you. I do not want to see you stressed. You will not have time to work when the babies start to come.”
The crushing sensation in Sophia’s chest intensified. Clearly Luca only made love to her to get her pregnant. The lust she thought she saw in him wasn’t craving for her, but simply a desire to have a child.
“Your mother told me she was married to your father for four years before your birth, and that despite her wishes, you were an only child. Do you expect me to sit around for years twiddling my thumbs, waiting for a baby that may never even happen?”
The fury that entered Luca’s eyes at her words made her step back.
“My father was nearly fifty years old when he married my mother. I assure you, I will have no such difficulty in fathering a child.” With that pronouncement he turned on his heel and left the terrace, balling up the credit card bill and flinging it into the corner on his way out.
She fell back onto the chaise. The late-spring sunshine no longer warmed her. Anger ebbed away, leaving only pain. Once again her dreams had come crashing down. This time, though, there had been no warning. The past two weeks had been almost idyllic. Revealing her past to Luca had been liberating. She now saw herself as capable of being the wife he wanted. And it had given her the confidence to seize her dream and start her own business, knowing that even if she failed, she’d have Luca’s respect for trying. Or so she’d thought.
Since Giada and Thierry had returned to Corsica, Sophia’s days had slipped into a quiet routine. In the morning she would work in the garden with Vittore or do some baking in the kitchen with Maria. After siesta she often visited reclamation yards, antique markets, or second hand stores with Jonathan or Isabella. She needed something to keep her thoughts off her husband, before they became all-consuming and she lost herself. Even then, she had spent each hour waiting for Luca to come home from work.
Her evening and nights had also entered a routine, although not one she would describe as quiet. Much to Maria’s delight, and hers, Luca was often home for dinner. They would spend an enjoyable evening, often with her curled up in a chair in the study reading, while he caught up on some paperwork or answered email messages.
The nights, however, were a different matter. Passion flared easily and often, and she usually fell into an exhausted sleep, still wrapped in Luca’s arms. She’d been able to convince herself that her marriage was more than just a business arrangement—that Luca cared for her, or at least was starting to. Now, however, she knew it was all a complete sham.
The roar of the Maserati’s engine and the tires spinning on the gravel drive indicated that Luca had left. She picked up her book, but the heroine’s trials seemed paltry compared to her own. When the words blurred before her eyes for the fifth time and the tears began to fall on the page, she put the book away. She rang Olivia in the Caribbean and cried figuratively on her friend’s shoulder.
• • •
Luca held back a sigh as Sophia typed away on her computer at the desk he’d set up for her in his home office. He couldn’t deny she seemed happier. She’d found a purpose and was enjoying herself. When he’d discovered she was setting up her own business, he’d reacted in sheer frustration that she’d erected another wall in life without him—a life where he was only a peripheral part.
Now she was out at client meetings or site visits, scouring junkyards and meeting with artisans, often accompanied by Isabella. The two women had become close friends, and he was happy that Sophia was adjusting to life so well in Italy. He only wished he was a bigger part of the picture.
He’d thought that once they made love, he’d regain control of his life. Instead, he’d lost even more. He was obsessed, and it didn’t sit well with him. He was too distracted. What he needed was a challenge, something that would take all his business acumen and construction skills to pull off—the hotel project near Teramo. He’d been in negotiations with Chet Wilkins for weeks now and they were finally ready to proceed with a site visit. But he needed Sophia to come with him to stop Chet’s wife, Leslie, from swinging a wrecking ball through his plans.
“Sophia, are you still available to come to Teramo with me and the Wilkinses on Friday?”
She flicked to her calendar. “Thanks for reminding me, I almost forgot. Yes, I can adjust the meetings I have; they’re not that important. How long will we be gone?” She was scheduling him into her life, like a client. He crushed the urge to walk over to her desk and pull her into his arms. To kiss her until he was all she could think about.
“Just for the weekend. This is the first site visit. If it goes well, we may have to go back again later in the week.”
“Oh, next week might be a problem. But I’ll deal with that if it happens. Do you really think he’ll go for the place?”
“I hope so. He is deciding between Teramo and a site he saw in Spain. There are more buildings in Teramo, but they are in worse condition. I need this contract, Sophia. It is worth twenty-five million Euros in profit to my company. Plus Chet has offered a ten percent share in the hotel. It will continue to pay, even after the work is all done. And if successful, it will make me one of the biggest property restoration companies in Italy. The name Castellioni will be known everywhere.”
“Wow, I didn’t realize it was such a big deal. I’m sure Chet will love Teramo. The photos you showed me were beautiful. But have you figured out how you’re going to make it work if you do win the bid? How can you oversee a project six hours from here?”
He took a deep breath before delivering the bad news. “We will have to move there for at least the start of the rebuild. I have found a nice house nearby we could rent. It is not as large as this, but it will be comfortable. Once things are running smoothly I can probably appoint someone to take over. But Chet was adamant that I be personally involved.”
“Luca, I just started my own business. I can’t move to Teramo for an indefinite period now. I have clients. And I convinced Isabella to do this with me. I can’t leave her in the lurch. You’re not the only one with responsibilities.”
A crushing weight descended on his chest. He pulled in a deep breath, hoping to relieve the pressure. “Come for the weekend. We can discuss the problems if I get the job.” He tried to inject a note of confidence in his voice. But the excitement of negotiating what could be the biggest contract yet for his company was tainted by the thought that it might mean a separation from Sophia. It was his worst fear, having to choose between his business and his wife.
• • •
Sophia zipped the suitcase closed and took one more look around the bedroom to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. Usually she loved these little impromptu trips with Luca. Generally it was just a day away, occasionally an overnight stay if it was a weekend. Then he�
��d find a gorgeous little hotel and he’d wine and dine her, shower her with romance, until she forgot he didn’t love her.
This trip, however, there would be no romance. Just a lead ball in her stomach as she contemplated weeks apart from Luca. It was the proverbial no-win situation. She could be a bitch and probably cost him the job. Or she could be super sweet and he’d win the contract and she’d lose a husband.
“Are you ready?”
Was she? “Yes, of course.”
Luca yanked her case off the bed and headed out the door. He hadn’t touched her. Normally, when he came near her, he would at least drop a kiss on her temple or run his hand down her arm. Some indication of wanting her, needing her. This time, nothing. Was it worry over securing the deal and the impact on their marriage? Or was he tiring of her already?
She followed him from the room and slid her sunglasses on her nose as she exited the house so he couldn’t see the dampness in her eyes. He sat behind the wheel in the Land Rover, waiting for her. As soon as she climbed in, he started the vehicle and sped off with a spurt of gravel. Soon they were on the motorway, the beautiful Italian countryside whizzing by the window.
“Where are we meeting the Wilkinses?” she asked as the silence in the vehicle became unbearable.
“In Teramo, at the hotel. Tomorrow we will go out to the site. Did you pack your walking boots? The terrain is pretty rough.”
“Yes.”
Luca had been to the site earlier in the week to double check some measurements and see the access roads for himself. He’d stayed overnight, their first night apart since they’d become lovers. If he secured this deal, it wouldn’t be their last.